A local official in Indonesia said that shrimp pastes are being exported to South Korea and Thailand by North Sumatra's Langkat district through Tanjung Balai port.

"The shrimp paste commodity is produced and exported by local fishermen in Pangkalan Susu subdistrict," Pangkalan Susu head Sukhyar Muliamin said here on Sunday (Dec 18).

Pangkalan Susu's shrimp paste production, which came from the villages of Kampai, Siata and Kebun Ubi, reached 350 tonnes per week.

The commodity which had been packed is sold to collectors at a price of IDR30,000 (US$3.29) per kilogramme.

Some 150 fishermen go fishing in the sea every day to catch shrimps which they processed into paste for exports to Thailand and South Korea.

He did not reveal the volume of Langkat`s shrimp paste exports but hoped that Pangkalan Susu port would soon be operated for export shipments so that the district could export at least 350 tonnes of shrimp paste a month.